LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

ifjap* iopjjrigljt If tu 

Shelf. 3-7- A 3 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



PARISH OF THE ADVENT 



A SKETCH 



OF THE HISTORY OF 



The Parish of the Advent 

/ 



IN THE 



CITY OF BOSTON 



A.. 1844-1894 

\ 



PRINTED FOR THE 

PARISH OF THE ADVENT 
1894 




Copyright 
1894 

By the Parish of the Advent 



OEO. H. ELLIS, PRINTER, 141 FRANKLIN ST., BOSTON. 



tije memory 



OF 

The Reverend WILLIAM CROSWELL, D.D. 

the First Rector of the Parish of the Advent 

BY WHOSE EXERTIONS 
UNDER DIVINE GUIDANCE 
THE FOUNDATIONS WERE LAID UPON WHICH 
HIS SUCCESSORS HAVE BUILT 
AND TO WHOM ALL WHO RECEIVE 
THE MINISTRATIONS OF THE CHURCH OF THE ADVENT 
OWE A LASTING DEBT 
OF GRATITUDE 
THIS SKETCH OF FIFTY YEARS OF ITS LIFE 
IS DEDICATED. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

I843-I8SI . 13 

1851-1858 < 47 

1858-1869 . 61 

1869-1894 71 

Rectors 83 

Past Officers 84 

Past Members 86 

Officers 88 

Members 89 



This sketch tells of the growth of a movement having 
somewhat more than a local interest. The first portion of it 
was written by the late Dr. F. E. Oliver who was intimately 
associated with the early life of the Parish of the Advent. 
The story of its later life has been completed mainly from its 
records. It is too soon for all the details of that later life to 
be told, but it is believed that the main events of its history 
are all set forth with sufficient clearness and detail to satisfy 
the present demand. 



1843 — 185T 



PARISH OF THE ADVENT. 



1843 — 1851. 

One evening, late in the autumn of 1843, a gentleman 
then living in Bowdoin Street, dissatisfied with the condi- 
tion of the Congregational body of which he had long been 
a member, and who had been drawn to consider the claims 
of the Episcopal Church, conceived the idea of forming a 
new Church parish in the city of Boston. In his own words : 
" Being discontented with my religious position, my thoughts 
had turned in the direction of the Episcopal Church. I 
was, however, a close guardian of these thoughts and of the 
plans and ideas they suggested" until the evening above 
mentioned, when " I went into the office of a friend and 
neighbor,^ and, finding him alone, said rather abruptly, 
' Doctor, what should you think of forming a new Episcopal 
church ? ' He looked surprised, and had no ready reply. 
I then said to him that I wanted to talk with him about 
matters relating to the Episcopal Church. He was at once 
a cordial and interested listener. I told him frankly I had 
for a long time been thinking deeply on the subject. I had 
hitherto spoken to no one, and I spoke now because cir- 
cumstances were such that I wished to change my present 
position. I had tried the Episcopal churches of Boston, and 
found them, as conducted, little or no better than the Con- 

*Dr. William Edward Coale. 



gregational. I did not like them. They had the Prayer- 
book, but hardly its spirit ; and they did not follow its prin- 
ciples. The doctor here replied, 6 1 agree with you.' I 
added : ' I have come to talk with you on this matter. You 
are an Episcopalian, and will understand me, and will know 
whether it would be possible to get together a sufficient 
number of Churchmen to support a new church.' " 

A few days later the two gentlemen above mentioned, 
with two others, met to discuss the proposed plan, which 
was that a church be formed in the spirit and according to 
the principles of the Book of Common Prayer, — a church 
supported by the free-will offerings of the worshippers, with 
free seats, where rich and poor might meet alike, without 
distinction, for worship; and where provision should be 
made for daily as well as weekly services. It was suggested 
that Dr. George C. Shattuck might be interested in the 
movement, and would perhaps be willing, should he like 
the plan, to assist it financially. These gentlemen con- 
tinued to meet and discuss the proposed plan; and Dr. 
Shattuck, having been consulted, joined with them, and 
showed much interest in the undertaking. 

The character of this new enterprise may be judged from 
the earnest desire of its originators for a wider dissemination 
of Catholic truth and the opening of the way for its more 
frequent hearing by^ all sorts and conditions of men through 
the establishment of a church having free seats. Moreover, 
they hoped for a stricter adherence on the part of the clergy 
and laity alike to the principles which form the basis of 
our Holy Religion. 

Before many months had elapsed the plan assumed a 
definite shape. On the ioth of September, 1844, a meeting 
of several gentlemen interested in the project was held in the 



i5 



Sunday-school room of Grace Church, at which the whole 
subject was discussed ; and it was finally agreed that a re- 
quest, signed by seven qualified voters,* should be made for 
the call of a legal meeting for the purposes of organization. 
Accordingly, a warrant was issued by John Codman, Esq. ; 
and four days later, on the 14th of September, a meet- 
ing was held at the house of Dr. George C. Shattuck, on 
Cambridge Street, and an organization effected. At this 
meeting, at which twelve members were present, committees 
were appointed to prepare a constitution and to procure a 
place of worship. At a subsequent meeting held on the 
24th of September a constitution was reported and adopted, 
the object of the organization, as set forth in the first arti- 
cle, being " to secure to a portion of the city of Boston the 
ministrations of the Holy Catholic Church ; and more es- 
pecially to secure the same to the poor and needy in a 
manner free from unnecessary expense and all ungracious 
circumstances." In the second article it was provided that 
the corporation should consist of the rector of the parish, 
ex officio, the assistant rector, — should there be one, — and 
the following persons and their successors : William Foster 
Otis, Robert M. Copeland, Richard H. Salter, T. M. J. 
Dehon, William E. Coale, John Codman, Richard H. Dana, 
Richard H. Dana, Jr., Robert Farley, George C. Shattuck, 
Jr., William J. Dale, Theodore Metcalf, Charles R. Bond, 
Charles P. Gordon, Henry Burroughs, Thomas D. Morris, 
J. H. Adams, Jr., I. C. Bates and Theron Metcalf; and it was 
also provided that the corporation should consist of not 
less than twelve nor more than twenty members, and should 
fill all vacancies in its number. At this meeting it was also 

*The signers were Charles P. Gordon, Robert M. Copeland, Richard H. Dana, Jr., 
Theodore Metcalf, Dr. W. E. Coale, Dr. Richard H. Salter, and Charles R. Bond. 



i6 

reported that a place of worship could be had at the cor- 
ner of Lowell and Causeway Streets in a building then 
being erected. As it was understood that this hall could 
not be completed in time for the first service, which was to 
take place on the first Sunday in Advent, a room was leased 
through the agency of Mr. John P. Tarbell, from Mr. Trull, 
in a building numbered 13 Merrimac Street, until the hall 
was ready for use. 

The most important question, after all, was who should 
lead the new parish as its rector. Until this meeting the 
matter was not formally discussed. Many who were in- 
terested in the movement had known the Rev. William Cros- 
well, formerly rector of Christ Church, Boston ; and, when 
his name was suggested, he was at once unanimously chosen 
to be the rector of the church to be called the " Church of 
the Blessed Advent." Mr. Croswell was the son of the Rev. 
Dr. Harry Croswell, rector of Trinity Church, New Haven. 
Soon after his ordination he had accepted the assistant 
rectorship of Christ Church in Boston ; and on the resigna- 
tion of the rector, not long after, in May, 1829, he was 
called to the rectorship, and entered upon his duties on 
the 31st of that month, as he expressed it, "in weakness, 
and in fear and in much trembling." For eleven years he 
remained at Christ Church, resigning in the summer of 
1840, to the great regret of his many parishioners. He had 
already accepted the rectorship of St. Peter's, Auburn, N.Y. ; 
and there he continued until his call to Boston, a period of 
four years. His previous career in Boston had brought him 
many friends ; for he was a man of the highest culture, and 
of a deeply religious nature. He was firm in his belief, but 
genial and courteous, with all those qualities which distin- 
guish a Christian gentleman. Certainly, as it proved, no 



17 



one could have been selected better fitted for the position 
he was called upon to fill. 

At a meeting of the parish held on St. Luke's Day a 
letter was read from the rector-elect, accepting the rector- 
ship of the parish ; and at the same meeting Mr. Richard 
H. Dana, Sr., accepted the offer of senior warden, and 
Mr. Charles P. Gordon was elected junior warden. Soon 
it was announced that a contract had been made for the 
hall on the corner of Lowell and Causeway Streets, so that 
the preparations were now nearly completed for the opening 
services. 

Ten years had now elapsed since the commencement of 
the Catholic revival in the Anglican Church ; and it was 
natural that in the establishment of a new parish on a 
strictly churchly basis, with free seats for rich and poor 
alike, and dependent for its support upon the voluntary of- 
ferings of the worshippers, the influence of that movement, 
both in its ritual and teaching, should be felt and recog- 
nized. With a corporation self-perpetuating, and hence 
independent of the fluctuations and uncertainties to which 
most parishes, with their ever-changing congregations are 
always open, a more Catholic standard than that to which 
the Church in Massachusetts had been accustomed hitherto 
could be more easily maintained. The time seemed to 
have come to throw off the shackles that had bound her for 
so many years to Puritan tradition, and to reaffirm, by a 
more distinctive teaching and ritual, the Catholic doctrines 
always held by the Anglican Church. Such was the desire 
both of the parish and its rector. 

A few days before the opening services of the new parish 
the following printed card had been circulated, notifying the 
public of the character of the proposed enterprise : — 



i8 

The Church of the Advent 

Has been recently organized and incorporated with a view 
to secure to the inhabitants of the north-western portion of 
the City of Boston the ministrations of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church, and more especially to secure the same to the 
poor and needy, in a manner free from unnecessary expense 
and all ungracious circumstances. 

A convenient place of worship is about to be provided 
in the building now in course of erection on the corner of 
Lowell and Causeway Streets. 

Until this building is completed, temporary arrange- 
ments have been made for holding divine service in an 
" upper room" at No. 13 Merrimac Street, within a few 
doors of Causeway Street, to commence on Advent Sunday, 
the first day in December. 

The sittings will be free to all. Permanent seats, how- 
ever, will be appropriated to those who signify their inten- 
tion to become constant occupants. 

The Church will be supported, as all churches were 
formerly wont to be, by the voluntary oblations of the 
worshippers. In accordance with the precepts of God's 
word, and the order of His Church, opportunity will be 
afforded for each individual, whether young or old, to " offer 
his gift upon the Altar " in that part of divine service which 
is called " the offertory." " Every man according as he is 
disposed in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for 
God loveth a cheerful giver." 

A prominent object, in addition to the usual offices of 
worship, will be the thorough catechetical training of the 
children in the principles and practice of Christ's religion, 
as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer. 

The Co-operation of all who are disposed to take a part 
in this good work is respectfully and earnestly solicited. 

For further information, apply to the rector, the Rev. 
W. Croswell, 7 Crescent Place, or to either of the following 
gentlemen : R. H. Dana, Senior Warden; C. P. Gordon, 
Junior Warden; R. M. Copeland, Theodore Metcalf, 
T. J. M. Dehon, T. D. Morris, W. E. Coale, R. H. Dana, Jr., 
R. H. Salter, C. R. Bond, Vestrymen, 



i 9 



The Rector will hold himself in readiness to attend to 
any of the duties of his calling, public or private ; especially 
those connected with the offices for the Visitation and Com- 
munion of the Sick, the Burial of the Dead, &c. 

In accordance with this announcement, on the first Sun- 
day in Advent, which occurred on the first day of Decem- 
ber, 1844, the first services of the new parish were held at 
13 Merrimac Street; and although the day was " rather 
unpropitious without," as Dr. Croswell expressed it in a 
letter to his father, " the King's daughter was all glorious 
within." "Our loft," he adds, "was crowded all day and 
evening with a congregation that seemed much gratified and 
most hopeful for the future of the new parish." In a letter 
written a week later he writes that " our loft is full to over- 
flowing. Yesterday afternoon troops of people went away 
for scarcity of room, and many remained standing during 
the whole service. Some sat round the footsteps of the 
Altar. At present we have three services a day." So in 
this plain and humble apartment the services continued, 
the congregation growing in number, and including " some 
of the best and most influential minds in the Church in the 
city." 

It was but natural that, in a movement like this, much 
opposition should be encountered. So sudden and so de- 
cided a departure from the established modes of worship 
in Massachusetts must necessarily have led to much com- 
ment and not a little feeling. Such as attempted to follow 
the letter and spirit of the Prayer-book were in those days 
reproachfully called Puseyites. Ridicule was one of the 
weapons employed to counteract influences which it was 
fancied by the uninformed must have emanated from the 
papal see. But controversy was entirely avoided on the part 



20 



of the priest and parish, and all went quietly on. The fasts 
and feasts were observed as they had not before been since 
the days of Ratcliffe ; and during Lent, the rector says in a 
letter to his father, the services were most solemn and im- 
pressive. On Good Friday he writes that the altar, as he 
remembered in his youth in New Haven, "was in black, the 
music full of pathos, and melted all hearts to tears. " 

Such was the state of the parish in this early period of 
its existence. At the close of its six months in Merrimac 
Street there were about seventy communicants, and all the 
worshippers had become thoroughly united and at one with 
the rector in the desire for a more dignified and appropriate 
ritual. A higher standard of church music seems to have 
been one aim from the outset. The voluntary choir of 
gentlemen and ladies were much interested in furthering 
the wishes of the rector. The psalms and canticles were 
sung to the simple Gregorian melodies so peculiarly adapted 
for the purpose, the metrical psalms soon giving place to 
the prose translation of the Prayer-book ; and the music be- 
came very soon one of the attractive features of the service, 
rather from its ecclesiastical character than from any espe- 
cial merit on the part of the singers. 

On the first day of June, 1845, tne parish held its first 
services in the new hall on the corner of Lowell and Cause- 
way Streets, which had been expressly arranged for it under 
the superintendence of the late Dr. Coale, one of its ves- 
trymen. The room was commodious, one well adapted 
to the ritual of the Church, and capable of seating not far 
from three hundred persons. The altar, which was at the 
east end of the hall, was plainly draped, and surmounted 
by a large gilded cross. Upon it were four gilded candle- 
sticks, whose candles were lighted at the evening services. 



21 



The chancel, which was small in area, was enclosed by a 
simple rail, at which the clergy knelt in the prayers. 
There was no reading-desk, but a plain wooden lectern, at 
which the lessons were read and the sermons preached. 
On the south side of the chancel sat the choir. In this 
small hall, Sunday by Sunday, a large and very respectable 
congregation assembled for worship ; and the responses were 
most hearty, and the services solemn and inspiring. 

There seems to have been at this time a growing desire 
for daily morning and evening prayer. " Many of the par- 
ish," says the rector in a letter, " are impatient for the com- 
mencement of daily service." " I am not sure," he adds, 
" that it will not be the first attempt to revive the week-day 
service in this city since the year 1686, when, at the second 
meeting of the members of the Church of England, it was 
< agreed that the prayers of the Church be said every 
Wednesday and Friday of the year, in the summer season 
to begin at seven of the clock in the morning, and in the 
winter season at nine of the clock in the forenoon.' " 

It was on the first day of September, just three months 
after the parish had removed to its new place of worship, 
that the daily service was commenced for the first time in 
Boston ; " at the ancient hour of prayer, being the third 
hour," # as the rector expressed it, " or, according to our 

* All will remember his beautiful lines, which are at once suggested by this remark: — 

" O Saviour, I would spend the hours il At vespers, and at nocturns late, 

Canonical with Thee, When suns have ceased to shine, 

As tolls the clock from yonder towers, On my devotion's dial-plate 

At nine, and twelve, and three ; Still shed Thy light divine ; 

At primes, and lauds, and matin bell, And, as the holy vigil yields 

And compline, rise and pray, In turn to holy dream, 

And tell my blessed rosary Oh, let my Saviour be through all 

At the decline of day. My glory and my theme." 



22 



present horology, nine o'clock." # " The morning was 
bright and auspicious, and there was an encouraging at- 
tendance." The rector seems to have had little doubt of 
his having ample strength, with the occasional assistance of 
other clergy, to carry on these additional services. He 
writes, a few weeks later, that the " daily service goes on 
quietly through sunshine and storm alike, and with little de- 
viation in the attendance." To aid in the more frequent ser- 
vices of the parish, the Rev. F. W. I. Pollard, formerly of 
Nantucket, was appointed the assistant minister of the parish ; 
and everything seemed to* betoken a prosperous future. 

An incident soon occurred, however, that led to much bit- 
terness of feeling, and to an interruption of the pleasant re- 
lations that had hitherto existed between the parish and the 
bishop. There had been from the first a consciousness on 
the part of the rector that the bishop was not heartily in 
sympathy with him in his work. On the presentation of 
his letters dimissory from Bishop DeLancey, he seems to 
have been treated with bare courtesy. " He is civil," wrote 
Mr. Croswell, " and I ask and expect nothing more." 
Brought up in the Presbyterian faith and not having changed 
his views since his boyhood, as he said to a brother bishop 
not very long before his death, it is not strange that Bishop 
Eastburn should have looked with a doubtful eye upon the 
new church enterprise, especially as the lay control of the 
parish was in the hands of a close corporation, the church 
being without pews, and hence individual ownership being 
impossible. But no decided expression or action on the 
part of the bishop was manifested until his first visitation^ 
which took place on the evening of the Sunday before Ad- 
vent, 1845. In a letter of the rector dated November 25 

* When the rector was asked at a vestry meeting, " what time he proposed for morning 
and evening service," he replied, " The hours of nine and six, being canonical hours." 



23 



he writes : " Our place of worship was thronged, the music 
was delightful, the congregation manifesting that engaged- 
ness in the worship which is so contagious, and distin- 
guishes us from any congregation in the city." Seventeen 
candidates were confirmed. The bishop's address was good, 
but contained nothing distinctive, and no recognition of 
what was characteristic in the rite. The bishop was 
noticed to be extremely nervous during the service, and, as 
soon as it was concluded, returned to the sacristy with the 
other clergy in a somewhat excited state, and at once pro- 
ceeded, as the rector described the scene, to deal with him 
and his assistant " in the spirit of one who was about to lay 
his hands — I had almost said violent hands — on his antago- 
nist, and in a manner neither creditable nor convincing." 
The bishop's main objections to the service related to the 
use of the word " Saint" except as applied to the apostles, 
to the fact that the clergy knelt with their faces to the altar 
instead of kneeling into their chairs, and to certain other 
things which appeared to him to savor of superstition. 
The conversation which ensued, though brief, had, to use 
Dr. CroswelFs words, " turned our joy into heaviness." 

The scene was one never to be forgotten, and seems to* 
have been the first step in a series of measures hostile to 
the interests of the new parish and its rector. The imputa- 
tions of the diocesan were, however, respectfully and stead- 
ily repelled ; and nothing else was heard from him until 
a few days later, when a pastoral letter appeared in his offi- 
cial organ, the Christian Witness, containing a direct attack 
upon the rector of the Church of the Advent, and on his 
mode of conducting divine service. The bishop alluded 
especially to the form of the communion table, " fitted up," 
as he expressed it, " like a Romish altar," the golden candle- 



24 



sticks, the large wooden cross that surmounted the altar and 
the postures assumed by the officiating clergy in the services 
of the Church. He expressed his unqualified condemnation 
of certain practices, which he regarded as puerile and dan- 
gerous to the souls of those who witnessed them, and as 
bringing contempt and ridicule "from all sensible and en- 
lightened persons of other Christian bodies," 

This unjust and uncalled for aspersion upon the charac- 
ter of one of his own clergy naturally caused much excite- 
ment and feeling in the parish and in the community at 
large, it seeming like an appeal to the public for the pur- 
pose of creating hostility to the new enterprise. 

A meeting of the wardens and vestry was at once called, 
at which resolutions were passed expressive of surprise and 
regret at the course pursued by the bishop, and vindicating 
the rector and the parish in all that related to the arrange- 
ment of the chapel and its modes of worship. They also re- 
corded a solemn protest against the public manner in which 
the rector had been denounced as "perilling the souls of his 
people," and "exposing the Church to ridicule and con- 
tempt," adverting to his many excellences, his untiring and 
self-sacrificing efforts in behalf of the poor, and his dignity 
and simplicity in conducting divine service. Cordial sym- 
pathy was also expressed with him in his efforts " towards 
presenting the Church in its entireness before the commun- 
ity" by the establishment of daily service, the observance of 
holy days, the regular offertory, the use of free sittings, the 
introduction of simple and ancient music, and by the 
frequent celebration of the sacraments, ordinances and 
offices. 

Of course, so gross and public an attack upon one every- 
where held in the highest esteem could not pass unnoticed ; 



25 



and most reluctantly did the rector enter upon his own de- 
fence. In his reply to his diocesan he remarked upon the 
great injustice done him, dwelling at some length upon the 
solemn character of the work he had undertaken, the zeal 
of those interested in the enterprise, the simplicity of the 
arrangement in the chapel, and of the general order 
of divine worship. " We have knelt," he said, " devoutly 
before and with our people towards God's most holy place, 
that they also might learn to kneel after our example. The 
effect has been all that we hoped for. The flame has 
spread from heart to heart. The cold silence and wander- 
ing looks, the carelessness and apathy, which are subjects of 
complaint in so many places of worship, have disappeared 
before it. Many who have come without religious sympa- 
thy we have reason to know have been joined together with 
us in a new bond of Christian union. I venture to say that 
the expression of 6 ridicule and contempt ' to which you 
allude has not been known among us, though doubtless 
some ' who came to scoff have remained to pray.' " In allu- 
sion to the cross, which the bishop refers to in his letter, 
as one of " the offensive innovations " that gave him " inex- 
pressible grief and pain," Mr. Croswell said : "I cannot 
bring myself to say one word in answer to your objection. 
I am happy to confess that I am 'childish and puerile' 
enough to love and rejoice to have that precious symbol 
presented to the eye in all holy places, — of all symbols the 
most speaking and most touching, proclaiming Christ cru- 
cified, the Alpha and Omega of the Church's existence." 
He added that " there is not one of our churches in the city 
which is not open to censure on similar ground," and in- 
stanced Trinity Church, the bishop's own church, where, as 
he pointedly said, " We miss the cross, indeed, but the 



26 



mitre is not excluded." He alluded to the painting of the 
Transfiguration in St. Paul's Church and in Grace Church to 
the cross in bold relief on the shaft of the baptismal font, 
intercepting the eye between the porch and the altar. He 
expressed extreme regret that he was compelled to a public 
defence of himself, but no other course seemed open to him. 
He had been held up by his bishop, through the public 
press, as a presbyter unfaithful to his vows, one who had 
not hesitated to sacrifice to an inclination towards idola- 
atrous usages and superstitious puerilities the character of 
the Church and the souls of his people; and a sense of 
justice, as well as his own self-respect, required that his 
vindication should be equally public. 

This reply to the attack upon himself and the parish was 
written in an admirable spirit. Pointed in style, yet free 
from all bitterness, it elicited much comment, and, together 
with the bishop's letter, aroused the deepest interest in 
every portion of the country. Letters poured in on him 
from all directions. In a letter to his father he writes, 
" I could not have anticipated such a burst of enthusiasm." 
Edition after edition of the correspondence was called for, 
until thousands had been disposed of ; and many were the 
testimonials of approbation and expressions of sympathy on 
every side. The religious and secular press also became 
involved in the controversy, the latter, as was natural, gen- 
erally defending the bishop's course, — the Puritan party, 
both within and without the Church, inveighing as of old 
against rites and ceremonies. But the rector was con- 
stantly cheered by letters and messages complimenting him 
on the spirit and manner of his reply. One of his corre- 
spondents wrote, " I am delighted with the manner in which 
you have treated the subject, — calm, dignified, and consist- 



27 



ent with your character as a man and minister of God's 
Holy Church, and at the same time conclusive in argu- 
ment and forcible in appeal." Many others expressed 
the same sentiment, while all cordially approved the course 
pursued by the rector and the vestry. 

That the attitude of hostility assumed by the bishop was 
not due to any sudden impulse, but rather to a profound 
dislike, fostered by his early training and association, to the 
broad Catholic principles that underlay the formation of the 
new parish soon became more than ever apparent. An in- 
cident occurred about this time that showed conclusively 
the bishop's feeling. A young clergyman had been invited 
to preach at Trinity Church on the afternoon of a certain 
Sunday by the assistant minister of that parish. Having 
officiated at the Church of the Advent at the morning ser- 
vice, he went to Trinity Church to fulfil his engagement 
there. The bishop asked him in the sacristy where he 
had officiated in the morning. He replied at the Church of 
the Advent. The bishop at once said that he could not 
preach at Trinity Church, and the reverend gentleman 
immediately withdrew,^ 

As the time approached for another confirmation, the 
rector made a formal request that the bishop would appoint 
a time for the administration of that rite. The bishop 
promptly declined to visit the parish unless permanent al- 

* It was probably with reference to this act that very soon after the vestry of Trin- 
ity Church passed two resolutions bearing on the conduct of the diocesan towards his 
clergy. The second of these resolutions contains the following clause: "The proprie- 
tors of this church do not recognize nor admit, as a just and appropriate means of advanc- 
ing the cause of true religion, the principle of exclusion from the altar or the pulpit of 
clergymen of regular standing in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and otherwise well 
approved for piety, learning, and a blameless life, and conforming to the settled usages 
and forms of worship in this Church, for the cause of theological views or opinions, not 
involving a case of ecclesiastical censure on the score of nonconformity to the doctrines 
of the Church of which they profess to be members." 



28 



terations were made in the arrangement of the chapel and 
in the mode of conducting divine service. Against this 
arbitrary act the rector could only protest, at the same time 
declining to conform to the bishop's suggestions. To 
abandon privately the observances for which he had been 
publicly censured would be regarded as an admission of the 
character imputed to them, as well as of the legality of 
the act of censure. The bishop having declined to visit 
the church, the confirmation took place at Trinity Church 
on the 17th of January, 1847.^ 

It was toward the close of the year 1846 that a move- 
ment was made for procuring a more permanent place of 
worship. The present hall had become too small to ac- 
commodate the congregations, and the street had become 
so noisy as to cause a serious interruption to the daily ser- 
vices. The subject came up at a meeting of the parish, 
held in November, 1846, when it was voted that a commit- 
tee be appointed to consider the whole subject, and take 
steps to raise a fund for the purpose of obtaining a perma- 
nent House of Prayer for the parish. Later, in order to se- 
cure the more safe and convenient management of such fund, 
it was voted that this fund be vested in the hands of three 
trustees under covenant with the corporation, by whom 
they were to be elected. These trustees were to so invest 
all moneys contributed for this purpose that they might 
accumulate until they reached the sum of twenty thousand 
dollars, in addition to the cost of a suitable lot of land. 
The fund might then be used for building a church 
under the direction of the corporation, which, when finished, 
should be conveyed to the parish, " upon such conditions as 

*A full account of the controversy is given in the Memoir of William Croswell by 
his father, published in 1853. 



2 9 



shall forever secure it to be free, and open to the public 
service of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost, according to the doctrine, discipline, and wor- 
ship of that portion of the Holy Catholic Church known as 
the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the United States of 
America." The above indenture was signed on the first 
day of February, 1847. 

A favorable opportunity very soon occurred for securing 
a building far better suited to the needs of the parish than 
the hall in Causeway Street. A meeting-house situated in 
Green Street, in which the late Dr. Jenks had for many years 
officiated, having become vacant, was offered for sale ; and, 
as the funds already in the hands of the trustees were suffi- 
cient for the purpose, they were enabled to secure it by pur- 
chase. It was a substantial structure of brick, far from ec- 
clesiastical in appearance, but, after undergoing the needed 
alterations, not ill-adapted to the requirements of the parish, 
being capable of holding not far from six hundred persons. 

Of course, much time was required to make the neces- 
sary changes in the new chapel to fit it for church worship ; 
and it was not until late in the autumn that they were com- 
pleted. In allusion to the slow progress of these alterations 
Mr. Croswell, in one of his letters, says: " But what they 
accomplish is very satisfactory ; and I think we shall have 
as churchlike arrangements of the altar and furniture as 
are to be found in the city, though this is not saying 
much. There will be a hundred pews, or, rather, open 
seats, on the . floor ; for we have discarded the doors and 
cut down the ends to a scroll elbow piece, — a vast im- 
provement in the appearance of the building, and settling 
an important principle. How strange the spectacle would 
be in our eyes, if we were not accustomed to it, — this but- 



30 



toning in of families on the floor of the sacred edifice, each 
in their separate pens /" 

The most noticeable changes were, perhaps, about the 
chancel. The old mahogany pulpit was transformed into an 
altar, above which was the cross, 1 * that rock of offence from 
the first, and over it the words, " Lo ! I come," " particularly 
significant," in the words of Mr. Croswell, " of that event 
to the commemoration of which, as past, and the prepara- 
tion for which, as to come, the church is especially conse- 
crated." The chancel was spacious, with only the altar 
within the rail, and a lectern and seats for the clergy with- 
out ; and the whole interior, as viewed from the main en- 
trance, was impressive. 

The first service was held in the new edifice on the 28th 
of November, 1847, ft being Advent Sunday, just three 
years after the first service in Merrimac Street. The rector 
was assisted by the Rev. Dr. Eaton and the Rev. Mr. 
Pollard, and preached the sermon. The congregation was 
quite large, and the prospects of the parish seemed more 
than ever encouraging. 

It was, perhaps, natural that on entering upon a new era 
in its history, some effort should be made to bring about, if 
possible, a more friendly feeling between the bishop and the 
parish ; and the following extract from a letter of the rector 
to his father, under date of November 22, shows that such 
an effort was then being made. " Last week," he writes, 
"five of the clergy | called on me in a body, first at our 

*This cross retained its place over the altar until 1882, when it was removed by the 
Cowley Fathers, who had purchased the building on Bowdoin Street. In 1890 it was 
placed in the rector's room at the Church of the Advent, which it now adorns. 

t Dr. Vinton, rector of St. Paul's Church, Dr. Clark, a former rector of Grace 
Church, Dr. Mason, rector of Grace Church, Mr. Woart, rector of Christ Church, and 
Dr. Randall, rector of the Church of the Messiah. 



3i 



house, and then at the church. Not finding me, they called 
again on the next evening ; and I gave them a cordial recep- 
tion. They expressed a hearty desire for unity and a res- 
toration of clerical intercourse. They had seen the bishop, 
who had reluctantly consented to waive all objection to the 
service as performed by the rector, provided I would ' pray 
towards the people.' " The rector promised to give the 
subject proper consideration, and the deputation withdrew. 
Meantime Dr. Croswell received a letter from Bishop East- 
burn, expressive of his satisfaction that the effort had been 
made by the clergy to promote brotherly unity and friendly 
intercourse, and of his especial desire that, as the parish 
was about taking possession of its new place of worship, its 
rector would now accede to his wishes in the conduct of 
divine worship, suggesting the wearing of the gown in 
preaching, the reading of the prayers at the reading-desk, 
and the use of a pulpit for preaching, also the use of the 
metrical psalms. The letter was kindly in its tone, but it 
was clear that no satisfactory arrangement of the parish 
difficulties was yet to be reached. 

The answer to the above letter was equally courteous and 
equally firm in its tone. The rector alluded to the charge 
that had been publicly made against him, without a hearing, 
that he was guilty of acts which tended to degrade the 
Church and " imperil the souls of men/' and called in ques- 
tion the right of a bishop to regulate his demand by an ap- 
peal to his own conscience or private opinion. At the same 
time he expressed his willingness, as it was his duty, to 
yield canonical obedience to his diocesan in all matters 
within his jurisdiction. He was unwilling, however, after 
all that had taken place, to make privily any concession, as 
it would subject him to an imputation of having deserved 



32 



the severe and open censure, not yet openly revoked, and of 
having exposed himself to the construction of admitting " a 
bishop's power virtually to inflict sentence of condemna- 
tion on his clergy without a trial." He instances the case 
of the apostle Paul, who, after he had " been beaten openly, 
uncondemned," at Philippi, was not willing to be " thrust 
out privily." 

Here the controversy seems to have ended for the pres- 
ent. Each year, as the time for confirmation arrived, the 
usual courteous request was made to the bishop that he Visit 
the parish to administer that rite, and the usual polite reply 
followed, declining to do so, this again being followed by 
a dignified protest on the part of the rector. Meantime 
the parish continued to prosper. " Every thing, " wrote Dr. 
Croswell, " looks very encouraging. The church is well 
attended, the ordinances honored, Sunday-school flourish- 
ing, the wants of the poor provided for, the support liberal, 
the sympathy of the brethren at large lively." He also 
adds, in allusion to the ritual and arrangements of the 
church, that " many of the best of the clergy would be glad, 
if it were in their power, to adopt the same arrangements." # 

It might be added that the music at this time had attained 
a certain degree of excellence. The choir, although a vol- 
untary one, was a single quartette, with voices above the 
average in quality ; and the music was of the simple charac- 
ter which had marked it from the first. The canticles were 
sung to the Gregorian melodies ; and the organ was 
admirably played, accompanying rather than leading the 
singers. A writer in the Parish Choir, an English publica- 
tion of that date, thus writes : " In Boston, at the Church of 

* It was at about this time that the portrait of the rector, by Mr. Brackett, now hang- 
ing in the rector's room at the Church of the Advent, was painted. 



33 



the Advent, where the Rev. William Croswell officiates, the 
singing is better than any I have ever heard on this side of 
the Atlantic. The chants are all single ones, most of them 
Gregorians, arranged as in the Parish Choir." # 

The first confirmation after the opening of the church in 
Green Street took place at Christ Church on the evening of 
Easter Day, 1848, when twenty persons were confirmed. 
As the bishop had expressed his determination not to visit 
the Church of the Advent until permanent changes were 
made in the arrangements of the church and in the mode of 
worship, he designated four parishes at which he proposed 
to administer the rite of confirmation, and to any one of 
which the rector was at liberty to present his candidates. 
The rector's long connection with Christ Church led him to- 
select that as least open to exception. 

Soon after Easter Rev. Mr. Pollard, who had served the 
parish faithfully as assistant minister for more than three 
years, resigned that position ; and until his successor should 
be appointed the Rev. Dr. Asa Eaton, one of the oldest 
presbyters in the diocese, who stood ready at all times to 
render any aid in his power, performed the duties of that 
office. Dr. Eaton had been from the first a firm friend to 
the parish, and his presence in the sanctuary seemed always 
like a benediction. In the autumn of the same year the 
Rev. Oliver S. Prescott, a young presbyter from North Car- 

*See Parish Choir, vol. ii. p. 116. The writer adds: "The organist has managed 
to induce the members of his choir to lose sight of their individuality to the good of the 
whole : hence there is a goodly number of voices singing the tune and inviting the con- 
gregation to join with them, — an invitation they gladly avail themselves of. One of the 
psalms of David (not a metrical psalm) is always chanted as an introit. In this church, 
I might observe, there is no reading-pew, that most useless and cumbersome piece of fur- 
niture ; but the matin service and even song, which are here daily read, are said at the 
altar rails, the lesson being read from a lectern. The choir always attend, and sing at the 
daily as well as Sunday services." 



34 



olina, was appointed the assistant ; and the rector, who had 
been for some time in infirm health, was much relieved in 
his parochial labors. 

Among the many gifts that from time to time were made 
to the parish, one of the most beautiful and appropriate was 
that offered on Easter Day of this year. It consisted of a 
service of holy vessels of silver-gilt for the altar. These 
were made in England, under the direction of the English 
Ecclesiological Society, and consisted of seven pieces richly 
wrought ; namely, one offertory basin, one cruet, two chal- 
ices, two patens, and one spoon, all with appropriate in- 
scriptions. 

It was in October, 1849, tnat tne Saints' Days began to be 
more appropriately observed than had been the custom in 
this diocese. In one of his letters Dr. Croswell states that 
St. Matthew's Day was observed at the Advent with the 
usual solemnities. " Seven of the clergy were present, and 
thirty or forty of the laity, at the Holy Communion ; " and, 
in allusion to the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, he 
writes that the Holy Communion was celebrated, " as we 
purpose it shall be on all Saints' Days, there having been 
fifty or sixty present." 

Among the few who had the courage to offer their services 
to the Church of the Advent at this time the name of the 
Rev. Henry N. Hudson ought not to be forgotten. He had 
acquired a high reputation as a lecturer on Shakspere, and 
had recently been admitted to the sacred order of deacons 
in the Church, and, being a resident of Boston, was willing 
to "put his light," as Dr. Croswell expressed it, "in our 
candlestick." Dr. Croswell adds, "We shall have three 
services on Sunday with his help, and shall each have one 
turn." 



35 



After the usual somewhat curt correspondence between 
the bishop and the rector, the time for the confirmation 
which was now at hand was fixed for the 24th of February, 
1850, at Trinity Church; and it will not be out of place to 
quote the letter of the rector complying with the direction of 
the diocesan : — 

Boston, Feb. 23, 1850. 

Right Reverefid and dear Szr, — 

It is proper to apprise you that, in compliance with your 
directions, I shall attend at Trinity Church with many of 
our congregation to-morrow morning. The service at our 
church will be omitted. I cannot yet inform you of the 
precise number of candidates for confirmation ; but I am 
sorry to say that I find it year by year seriously diminished 
in consequence of the course which you have felt at liberty 
to pursue, in depriving our parish of the benefits of the 
episcopal visitation contemplated by the canon. And I 
should be wanting in a sense of what is due to my own 
rights, as a presbyter under your jurisdiction, " not justly 
liable to evil report, either for error in doctrine or vicious- 
ness of life," as well as what is due to those of the laity of 
our parish, constituted an integral part of the diocese, en- 
titled to representation in the Convention, and to the enjoy- 
ment of the same canonical provision and privileges as any 
other parish in it, if I did not once more enter my solemn 
protest against these proceedings, as I have done against 
similar proceedings in former years. 

As ever, your faithful presbyter, 

W. Croswell. 

On the morning of St. Matthias Day, therefore, the 
church was closed, and many of its congregation repaired 
to Trinity Church to witness the confirmation, while the 
candidates for that sacred rite walked in procession through 
the streets to the cathedral church. 



36 



The munificent gift of a service of richly wrought com- 
munion vessels was supplemented in the following year by 
a sum of money which was expended in the purchase of a 
font and altar of Caen stone. # These were made after the 
design of an English artist, Mr. Frank Wills, then residing 
in this country, and were delicately and beautifully carved. 
The font was at once accepted ; but objections having been 
made to the altar, that it was a distinctive altar, and not a 
table, and hence suggestive of a doctrine not then sup- 
posed to be generally held in what are termed Protestant 
churches, consent to its erection was at first withheld by the 
vestry. In the following year, however, at the special re- 
quest of the rector, it was put in place. 

Although the feeling engendered by the bishop's action 
had in some degree subsided, the object sought at the 
outset by the diocesan authorities had by no means been 
abandoned. The attempt to cast a shadow over the good 
name of William Croswell had but drawn to him the sym- 
pathy of all true Churchmen, and done much to promote the 
growth and strength of the parish over which he presided. 
If one could be selected of less note and influence who 
could be made to suffer in his stead, something might yet 
be accomplished. It was, indeed, the better part of valor 
to choose an antagonist who, comparatively unknown and 
without social influence, might be made to feel the smart of 
the episcopal rod, even at the sacrifice of his priestly 
standing. Accordingly, in the autumn, a presentment was 
served on the Rev. Mr. Prescott, the rector's assistant, con- 

* The bequest of Miss Elizabeth P. Perkins. This font is now in the baptistry of 
the Church of the Advent. The altar and an eagle lectern, given to the parish as early 
as 1848, were loaned for a time to the Society of St. John the Evangelist, when the 
parish moved from Bowdoin Street. It is to be hoped that they will soon find a place in 
one of the chapels in the Church of the Advent. 



37 



taining charges of heresy and of violating the usages of the 
diocese in the mode of conducting divine service, the latter 
referring to the wearing of the surplice in preaching and the 
use of the psalter instead of the psalms in metre. The 
charges of heresy were that he held and had taught the 
worship of the Blessed Virgin, in a sermon preached by him 
in Christ Church in Cambridge, and that he had also taught 
that confession to a priest and absolution were profitable and 
allowable. These charges, after three trials, were declared 
to be " not sustained" ; but it was decreed by the court that, 
inasmuch as the respondent had claimed the right to pro- 
nounce absolution to the penitent, he be suspended from the 
ministry until he furnish to the bishop a certificate renounc- 
ing that claim except in the office for the visitation of the 
sick or in cases of contagious diseases. 

Although the result was reached by an utter disregard 
of law and facts, it being admitted that the respondent was 
guiltless of heretical teaching, the object of the diocesan 
authorities had been attained ; and Mr. Prescott went forth 
shorn of the powers that had been solemnly conferred upon 
him at his ordination. The diocese of Massachusetts had 
spoken. 

An interesting incident in the history of the parish was 
the visit of Dr. Medley, the lord bishop of Fredericton. 
The parish having been deprived for many years of all 
episcopal supervision, this became an event of no ordinary 
interest. Bishop Medley's attention had been called to the 
parish several years before, when, soon after its organ- 
ization, he had given it the alms chest, now at the south 
door of the church. On passing through Boston in Septem- 
ber, 185 1, he visited the church, leaving word that he would 
much like to preach on his return in October. He arrived 



38 



on the eve of St. Luke's Day, and on that day assisted in 
the communion service, and preached a sermon appropriate 
to the day. On the following Sunday he also preached, to 
the great delight of all who listened to him. This action 
on his part gave great offence to the diocesan, who did 
not call upon his brother, and even declined an invitation 
to dine with him. The visit of his lordship was, however, 
most providential, and may have aided in ultimately open- 
ing the way towards a settlement of the questions in contro- 
versy. 

It was but a few days later, on the Feast of St. Simon and 
St. Jude, that the lord bishop of Newfoundland, Dr. Field, 
was present at the services. The visits of the two bishops 
to the parish were a source of the greatest pleasure to the 
rector, whose days were now drawing to a close, and will be 
long remembered in connection with its early history. 

Dr. Croswell had now entered upon the last month of his 
earthly life ; and his close relations to the church with which 
he had been identified, almost from its beginning, render 
every detail of that life, especially in its closing days, of 
peculiar interest. There are those who recall the zeal and 
ardor with which he looked forward to the services of that 
last All Saints' Day. The sermon, almost prophetic, on that 
occasion ; # his preparation for the sermon to the children, 
which was to be his last ; his last entry in his journal, in 
which he noted his ineffectual search after a poor woman, 
who had incorrectly given her place of abode, — all these 
touching incidents are suggestive and full of interest, and 
mark the character of this devout and saintly man. During 

* His sermon was from the text, " Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about 
with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so 
easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto 
Jesus." He died November 9. 



39 



the interval between the close of the morning service and 
evensong on that last Sunday it was remarked by his fam- 
ily that he never appeared more cheerful ; and he promised 
himself much enjoyment in the approaching services, at 
which he was to admit an infant, by holy baptism, into the 
Church, and to address the little ones of his flock, in whose 
spiritual welfare he took the deepest interest. His sermon, 
from 2 Kings v. 2-3, "was written in a style of beau- 
tiful simplicity, perfectly plain, and well adapted to the 
capacity of his juvenile hearers, and yet full of the most 
sublime and elevated thoughts." In the last service in 
which he was ever to engage, nothing was especially notice- 
able in his manner until during the delivery of the sermon, 
when " it was perceived " says his biographer,* " that he occa- 
sionally betrayed some signs of faltering in his speech ; but 
this was, very naturally, imputed to his emotions, and would 
not have attracted particular notice, had he not also, from 
time to time, placed his hand, in an unusual manner, upon 
the back of his head, as if suffering from pain or distress. 
The children were much affected as they saw, or thought 
they saw, tears stealing from his eyes. His voice, which 
was ever gentle and soft, and could scarce shape itself to a 
tone of reproof but that it would falter into music, mean- 
while assumed, as from some presentimental emotion, those 
tones of tender pathos which rendered his speech no less 
fit than if it had been specially meant for a valedictory to 
the little ones of his flock." The writer well remembers the 
scene. His manner, as the sermon drew towards its close, 
was as if he were unable to see his notes distinctly ; and he 
brought it, at last, abruptly to an end, and gave out, from 
memory, the hymn, not the one he had appointed for the 
choir to sing, but one containing the prophetic lines, — 

* Memoir of Air. Croswell, p. 475. 



4Q 



" Determined are the days that fly- 
Successive o'er thy head, 
The numbered hour is on the wing 
That lays thee with the dead." 

He then almost tottered to the altar rail ; and, after re- 
peating the collect "Direct us, O Lord," he pronounced the 
lesser benediction on his knees, and remained kneeling, the 
congregation now taking the alarm, and hastening to his 
assistance. He was led from the church, and taken imme- 
diately in a carriage to his residence which was near, and 
soon after became unconscious. In an hour his spirit had 
departed. 

One can scarcely conceive of the shock that followed the 
startling news of his death, especially to those who had 
been present at the last service. Not only within the 
parish, but throughout the community, this event cast a deep 
gloom ; for Dr. Croswell had become well known as a devout 
and holy man, and the controversy forced upon him by his 
bishop had brought him prominently before a public which 
had already begun to sympathize with him in his trials and 
in the wrongs he had been called upon to endure. The 
suddenness of his departure also made a deep impression. 
All bitterness was for the time laid aside by those who 
had been so harsh in their judgments, and they united in 
their testimony to the rare spiritual gifts of this saintly man. 

On the following morning, immediately after matins, at 
which the Rev. Thomas R. Lambert officiated, a meeting of 
the congregation was held in the sacristy of the church, at 
which appropriate words were said, and the general arrange- 
ments made for the obsequies of the late rector. The fu- 
neral ceremonies were solemnized on the following Wednes- 
day at the Church of the Advent in Green Street, the 



4i 



newly consecrated bishop of Connecticut conducting the 
services. The pall-bearers were the Rev. Dr. Edson of 
Lowell, Rev. Dr. Burroughs of Portsmouth, Rev. Drs. Vin- 
ton and Wells, and the Rev. Messrs. Greenleaf, Mason, 
Clinch, and Lambert. Assisting Bishop Williams were 
the Rev. Dr. Wainwright, of New York, the Rev. Dr. 
Eaton and the Rev. Dr. Strong, of Greenfield.^ " The 
church was crowded," says one who was present, "with a 
most solemn assembly ; and all the services of the mourn- 
ful occasion were deeply impressive." After the services 
the body was taken to New Haven, accompanied by a com- 
mittee of gentlemen of the parish,! and there on the follow- 
ing morning was committed to the ground by the side of 
his elder brother. 

On the Sunday following that on which the sad event oc- 
curred a sermon, commemorative of the late rector, was 
preached by his old friend, the Rev. Titus Strong, of Green- 
field. The Rev. Dr. Haight, of New York, officiated on the 
succeeding Sunday ; and on the second Sunday in Advent 
the Right Rev. Dr. Doane, the bishop of New Jersey, be- 
tween whom and the late Dr. Croswell there had existed the 
closest ties of friendship for many years, preached an im- 
pressive and eloquent discourse, in which the character of 
Dr. Croswell was most touchingly portrayed. A few words 
from this beautiful tribute to his memory will not be out of 
place. In allusion to those qualities of heart and mind that 
especially distinguished him he says : " His kindness was as 
considerate and delicate in all its details as it was boundless 

* The bishop of the diocese was present at the service in his robes, but at the especial 
request of Dr. Croswell's father, the Rev. Harry Croswell, took no part in the funeral 
ceremonies. 

tThis committee consisted of John P, Tarbell, Frederic H. Stimpson, Charles C. 
Grafton, Theodore Metcalf, N. Austin Parks, and F. E. Oliver. 



42 



in its comprehension. He knew the very thing to do, the 
very word to say, the very time and place to do it and to 
say it. . . . Then he was wonderful in his humility. He 
esteemed every other better than himself. He cared not 
what the service was, so ha could do it ; or for whom it 
was, so it would be received. And from his humility there 
sprang a beautiful simplicity, which was a letter of universal 
commendation. 

" He was a gentleman not only, but the gentlest man. No 
man ever was more acceptable to the refined and intellect- 
ual. No man had ever easier access to the poor, the igno- 
rant, the vicious, the degraded. He won their confidence 
at once ; and, the more they saw of him, the more they 
trusted. He was so considerate of their feelings ; he was 
so charitable to their infirmities ; he was so constant in his 
assiduity ; he knew the strings in every broken heart, and 
had from God the medicine to heal their hurts. . . . But 
especially he was so unreserved in his self-sacrifice. One 
says of him : ' Dr, Croswell was instant in season and out 
of season. He never was known to refuse any call for ser- 
vice or duty.' . . . The distance was never too great for him 
to go to do good for Christ's sake. The storm was never 
too severe for him to find his way through it to relieve a 
tossed and beaten sufferer. The night was never too late 
nor too dark for him to find his way to bear the Cross, with 
its consolations, to the bed of death. How plainly I can 
see him now, with his old cloak wrapped about him, which 
he would have gladly given to the next poor man, if he had 
thought it good enough for him ; and with his huge over- 
shoes, which, when he put them on so deliberately, would 
always bring to mind what the apostle said, about having 
the * feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.' 



43 



As he set out upon his ministry of mercy, you might think 
him very slow, and doubt if he would find his way, and won- 
der when he would get back, or if he ever would. But, ere 
he slept, he would have threaded every darkest and most 
doleful lane, in the most destitute quarter of the city, dived 
into cellars and climbed garrets, comforted a lonely widow, 
prayed by a dying sailor, administered the Holy Communion 
to an old bed-ridden woman, carried some bread to a family 
of half-starved children, engaged a mother to be sure and 
send her youngest daughter to an infant school, and ' made 
a sunshine ' in the shadiest places of human suffering and 
sorrow. And, when all this was done, if he had time for it, 
he would charm the most refined and intellectual with his 
delightful conversation and his pure and lambent playful- 
ness. . . . 6 He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one.' I 
may add as justly, 6 exceeding wise, fair-spoken, and per- 
suading.' . . . His habits were simple almost to severity. 
' Having food and raiment/ he was ' therewith content.' " 



i8^i— i8^8 



1851 — 1858. 

The peculiar relations between the parish and the dio- 
cesan authorities, and the possible difficulty of finding one 
to succeed the late rector, rendered it of the first impor- 
tance to take immediate steps towards filling the vacancy 
now existing ; and almost immediately a committee was ap- 
pointed to consider the matter. In the mean time the daily 
services were conducted by the Rev. Thomas R. Lambert, 
of the United States Navy, a committee of the vestry pro- 
viding for the services on Sundays. 

On the fourth Sunday in Advent, the 21st of December, 
the sermon was preached by the Right Rev. Horatio South- 
gate, formerly bishop of Constantinople. The impression 
made by this sermon, which was appropriate to the season, 
was such that his name at once suggested itself to many as 
one to be considered in connection with the rectorship. A 
few days later the committee placed themselves in commu- 
nication with him, and soon after recommended him as the 
successor to the late lamented rector; and on the 31st of 
December, 185 1, Dr. Southgate was unanimously elected to 
the rectorship of the parish. In a letter dated the 2d of 
February, 1852, he accepted the position to which he had 
been called, his duties to commence on the following Easter 
Day. 

Having been so long deprived of the presence of a bishop 
in the chancel, except on the occasion of the visit of the 
lord bishop of Fredericton, it was especially gratifying to 
the parish that one of the episcopal order should now be- 



4 8 



come its rector, — a man, too, of decided ability, and a de- 
fender of the principles on which the parish had rested from 
the first. „ 

During the interim the services had been for the most 
part under the supervision of Rev. Dr. Eaton, always a firm 
friend of the parish ; and the records show that a testi- 
monial was voted of approbation and reverence, as well as 
" gratitude for his countenance and unwavering support 
from the formation of the parish until the present time, 
together with the prayer that his presence and assistance 
may long continue. " 

With the incoming of the new rector, one of the questions 
that suggested itself was in connection with the music of 
the church. The choir that had thus far been a voluntary 
one, consisting of a quartette in the western gallery, could 
not be depended on for a permanency; and there was a 
growing taste for a larger choir and a more churchly ar- 
rangement. 

The rector, after consultation with one or two members of 
the vestry, decided that a change was necessary, involving 
the removal of the organ to the north aisle of the chancel, 
and, if possible, two choirs of men and boys, one on either 
side. Although there was, perhaps naturally, not a little 
opposition to the plan, the corporation at length, at the 
urgent desire of the rector, reluctantly consented to the 
change. It was a fortunate circumstance that at this time Dr. 
Henry S. Cutler, an organist who had studied abroad and 
was somewhat familiar with the training of boy choirs, had 
had for some time past such a choir under his care, hoping 
that it might be acceptable to the parish of Grace Church, 
whose rector, Dr. Charles Mason, was decidedly favorable 
to its use. But there seemed to be so much opposition 



49 



to the plan on the part of the wardens and vestry of 
that church that it was finally abandoned, and Dr. Cutler 
was appointed organist at the Church of the Advent. 
Having accepted the position, he brought his six boys with 
him; and they sang for the first time on Sunday, the 18th 
of July, 1852, the old quartette sitting on the cantoris 
side. The performance of the two choirs was necessarily 
for a time somewhat crude ; but a step had been taken 
which was to lead not many years afterward to a double 
choir of men and boys, properly vested. It was on the 
17th of June, 1855, tnat tne two chorrs were regularly 
installed. 

The unfortunate conflict that had been left by the late 
rector as a sort of legacy to his successor was still destined 
to disturb the peace, although not the prosperity of the 
parish, and to be a source of trouble and vexation. In 
October, about six months after his coming among us, the 
rector wrote to the bishop of the diocese, asking him to 
visit the parish to administer the rite of confirmation. 
This request was promptly declined. Bishop Southgate, 
however, after protesting against the wrong again done to 
the parish by so arbitrary a proceeding, declared it to 
be a violation of the letter and spirit of the canon on 
episcopal visitation, and declined to take his candidates 
to any other church, throwing upon the diocesan the re- 
sponsibility and consequences of his non-compliance with 
what was clearly an arbitrary and uncanonical act. No 
further correspondence now took place, persons desiring 
confirmation seeking it in other dioceses. The subject 
was, however, alluded to in a sermon preached by the 
rector on the Sunday before Advent, in which the position 
of the parish, as well as his own position, in relation to 



5o 

the bishop of the diocese, was clearly set forth. This 
sermon was afterward published by request. 

In the spring of 1853 the Rev. Moses B. Stickney, for 
some time rector of St. Peter's Church, Cambridgeport, 
was appointed one of the assistants by the rector, to aid 
him in his parochial charge and duties. 

In August of this year an event occurred of much interest 
to the parish. The cathedral at Fredericton, N.B., which 
had been in process of building for some years, was now 
completed ; and the respect for the bishop of that diocese, 
who was remembered as a visitor to the parish two years 
before, and who had always been most friendly to the Church 
of the Advent, led the corporation to address his lordship, 
and to send a delegation, consisting of the rector, wardens, 
and clerk, to represent the parish on the occasion of its 
consecration. As the wardens were unable to accompany 
the rector, who had been appointed to preach the conse- 
cration sermon, one of the vestry took their place, and 
together with several of the clergy from New York and Con- 
necticut, and the architect, Mr. Frank Wills, proceeded to 
Fredericton. Among the distinguished guests on the occa- 
sion were the bishops of Toronto and Quebec, who took 
part in the ceremonies, and many persons from Canada and 
the other Provinces. All were hospitably entertained by the 
ladies and gentlemen of Fredericton, and the occasion was 
a memorable one. The address from the Parish of the 
Advent was presented before the consecration in the library 
of the cathedral by Bishop Southgate, and was replied to 
by the bishop of Fredericton in a few most appropriate 
words, and later by a letter of thankful acknowledgment to 
the parish. 

In the autumn of 1853, at a meeting of the parish, the 



5 1 



rector suggested the importance of again attempting to bring 
the unpleasant controversy with the bishop of the diocese to 
a close, and proposed a hearing before the House of Bishops, 
Bishop Eastburn to speak for himself, and Bishop Southgate 
for the parish. A tie vote defeated this proposition ; but it 
was afterward voted, however, " That the rector be requested, 
if, in his judgment, it be expedient, to propose to the bishop 
of the diocese to refer to the decision of the House of 
Bishops the question of the rights of this parish to episco- 
pal visitation under the canon." But, notwithstanding these 
various efforts on the part of the parish, no satisfactory ter- 
mination to the conflict seemed to result. It was not until 
nearly three years later, on the eve of the meeting of the 
General Convention, that the matter was again agitated. 
At a meeting of the parish, held in May, 1856, a series of 
letters, which had passed between the rector and the dio- 
cesan on the subject of confirmation, were read. The rec- 
tor's course was unanimously approved, and it was voted to 
send a copy of the correspondence between the bishop and 
the two rectors of the parish to every bishop of the Church, 
with the suggestion that the parish considers the course 
pursued by the bishop of this diocese to be a plain viola- 
tion of the canon relating to episcopal visitations, " and that 
it therefore deems it its duty to lay the correspondence before 
the bishops, leaving it to them, if their judgment in the mat- 
ter coincides with the opinion of this parish, to apply the 
remedy which the laws of the Church in such case provide." 
A copy of the correspondence was sent to every clerical and 
lay delegate to the next General Convention, accompanied by 
a memorial to that body, setting forth the necessity of fur- 
ther legislation on the subject of episcopal visitations, and 
praying that such a general canon be enacted as might inci- 



52 



dentally afford relief to the parish from the position in which 
it was placed. 

The General Convention met in October ; and the appeal 
of the parish, warmly seconded by the rector, who remained 
in Philadelphia during almost its entire session, was favor- 
ably received. The passage of a canon was secured, which 
required the visitation by a bishop of every parish within 
his jurisdiction at least once in three years. No conditions 
were attached, and but one legitimate course seemed open 
to the bishop of Massachusetts ; and this he wisely and 
promptly decided to take. 

It was but a few days after the adjournment of the con- 
vention that the rector announced to the corporation that 
the bishop had informed him of his intention to visit the 
Church of the Advent on the coming third Sunday in Ad- 
vent to administer the rite of confirmation, thus setting an 
example of willing obedience to authority well worthy of 
imitation. On this result being made known to the parish, 
a vote of thanks to the rector was passed for his earnest 
and unceasing labors in its behalf, containing also an ex- 
pression of its indebtedness to him, under the good provi- 
dence of God, for much of its present prosperity. 

In March, 1858, the parish met with a sad loss in the 
death of the Rev. Dr. Eaton, who had been from the first 
one of its warmest friends and supporters. On almost every 
occasion, during the last years of his life, he had assisted 
at its services, being rarely, if ever, absent from morning or 
evening prayer. Dr. Eaton took cold at New Haven while 
attending the funeral of the Rev. Dr. Harry Croswell, and 
soon after his return was taken with a chill, which resulted 
in pneumonia, of which he died on the 24th of March. A 
meeting of the wardens and vestry was at once called ; and 



53 



appropriate resolutions were passed, lamenting with the 
diocese the loss of one whose life had been contemporane- 
ous with almost its entire history, whose counsels had been 
so valuable, and whose friendship had been so cherished by 
successive generations of its clergy, recalling also in him 
the friend and supporter of the early and weaker days of 
our enterprise, " the deep interest he felt in its system of 
daily service, free sittings, frequent sacraments, and syste- 
matic sympathetic charities ; and, also, his faithful friend- 
ship to our deceased rector, who often needed the sanction 
of his co-operation and presence, the encouragement of his 
advice, and the solace of his personal friendship." At the 
funeral, which took place on the 27th, the church was ap- 
propriately draped ; and a large number of the clergy, in- 
cluding the bishop of the diocese, escorted the body to its 
burial-place at King's Chapel. 

Two months later the parish met with a further loss 
in the sudden death of the senior warden, Mr. William 
Foster Otis. Mr. Otis had been warmly interested in the 
parish from the first, and the vacancy caused by his decease 
was one not easily filled. A Churchman of the best type, 
a gentleman by birth, and a man of the keenest sense of 
honor, his loss was an irreparable one. He died at Ver- 
sailles, Paris, where he had gone for his health, on the 29th 
of May. His funeral took place in June, 1858, at the 
Church of the Advent. 

In the summer of 1858 it became necessary to suspend 
the daily and Sunday services for a time to allow the proper 
cleansing and repairing of the church, and an informal sug- 
gestion was made by one of the wardens of this parish to 
the wardens and vestry of King's Chapel that the Parish 
of the Advent be allowed for a few Sundays to occupy that 



54 



venerable building, originally set apart for the rites and 
worship of the Church of England. As the chapel was 
closed during the summer months, the wardens and vestry 
very courteously granted its use to the Parish of the Ad- 
vent for three Sundays in July, the nth, 18th, and 25th, 
the latter being St. James's Day. No public service on a 
Sunday had been held in King's Chapel, according to the 
rites of the Church, since the evacuation of Boston by the 
royal army in 1776. The services were choral, and many 
of the clergy of Boston and vicinity took part. # The ser- 
mon on the first Sunday was by Bishop Southgate ; and the 
old fane, arrayed once more in her goodly attire, was 
crowded to its utmost capacity.! The choirs occupied the 
galleries on either side near the organ, and for the first 
time since the revolution were heard there the chants and 
hymns of the Anglican Church. 

At a meeting of the corporation in August a communi- 
cation was received from the rector, resigning the rector- 
ship of the parish. The immediate cause of this step, as 
sudden as it was unexpected, was not apparent. How far 
he was influenced by a vote passed not very long before, re- 
ducing the amount which had been placed in his hands for 
clerical services, it is impossible to say, as a reduction was 
at the same time made in the appropriation for the music of 
the church. It is by no means improbable, however, that 
this may have led him to suppose that his rectorship was 

* Among the clergy were the rector, the Rev. M. P. Stickney, the Rev. Charles 
Burroughs, the Rev. E. M. P. Wells, the Rev. Nicholas Hoppin, the Rev. Edward J. 
Stearns, the Rev. John P. Robinson, the Rev. Charles W. Homer, and the Rev. Isaac 
G. Hubbard. 

t A gentleman who belonged to King's Chapel told the writer that he was so much 
pleased with the services that he bought a Prayer-book, supposing the arrangement to be 
a permanent one. 



55 



no longer acceptable. The parish had grown and pros- 
pered under his guidance and direction, and there seemed 
to be nothing to interrupt the harmony that hitherto 
existed between priest and people ; and yet there may have 
been an element of discord in the parish which decided him 
to seek another field of labor. 

In accepting his resignation, the corporation expressed 
upon its records the strong personal respect and affection 
which was felt for the rector, the deep sense of his laborious 
and self-denying devotion to the interests of the parish, the 
appreciation of the value of his services, and the reluctance 
with which the parish was obliged to yield to his judgment 
in the matter. It would appear from the letter of resigna- 
tion that his main object in accepting the rectorship was to 
terminate, if possible, the conflict between the diocesan and 
the parish. Having accomplished this, he felt his mission 
was ended. 

His letter of resignation is interesting, as a contemporary 
record of the position of the parish at the time it was 
written. It is as follows : — 

Boston, Aug. 20, 1858. 

Gentleme?i : — 

I hereby resign the rectorship of the Church of the 
Advent, and beg to lay before you a summary of the reasons 
which lead me to this act. 

When I took charge of the parish six and a half years 
ago, I framed for myself a plan which I have since regarded 
as the chief object of my mission here. It was to relieve 
the parish from the disadvantageous position in which it 
was then placed, and to bring it into a normal condition, in 
which it could act freely for the great ends that are the 
design of the Church of Christ on earth. I gave myself to 
this work with an entire surrender, purposing, if need be, to 
spend my life for its accomplishment. You remember the 



56 



former days of trouble, anxiety, and reproach. You know, 
too, the wonderful way in which we have been led, step by 
step, out of all danger and difficulty, until we w r ere brought 
at length into a large and safe place. Every embarrass- 
ment has been removed, the obstacles to a free and success- 
ful progress are taken out of our path, the good name of 
the parish has been amply vindicated, and at this moment 
it stands with a fair, unclouded reputation, and with cheer- 
ing prospects before the Church and before the world. 

Since the last confirmation in December, 1857, the ques- 
tion has often occurred to me whether I ought not to regard 
the great object for which I took charge of the parish as 
accomplished, and whether, therefore, I might not properly 
retire from the work. 

To this thought has been added the consideration that I 
have devoted six years to parochial labor almost without 
intermission. I have seldom been absent from my post, 
winter or summer, for a single day, excepting on official 
duty. When here, I have labored day and night incessantly. 
The work has, almost unconsciously to myself, so grown 
under my hand that Sunday, ordinarily regarded as the 
clergyman's time of trial, has come to be to me compara- 
tively a day of rest. This cannot always continue ; while I 
feel that in this field I could never labor less. I have been 
deprived (by my own choice, indeed, in accumulating work) 
of almost all opportunity for study, so that, for the last four 
years at least, I have seldom had one free uninterrupted 
hour for this purpose ; and yet I could not bear to study 
with such peculiar incentives to active labor constantly press- 
ing upon me. 

I have also thought of the possibility of your reducing 
the cost of supporting the clergy, in case I should retire ; 
and the deep and abiding interest which I feel in the parish 
would lead me to do all in my power to relieve you from 
some portion of the heavy burden of expense which you 
now bear. 

These reasons (combined with the fact that the parish is 
in a state of health and strength in which I can leave it with 



57 



the prospect of the least possible detriment to itself) are the 
leading ones which have guided me to my present conclusion. 

To give the parish time to arrange for the future, as well 
as for my own convenience in removing, I make my resigna- 
nation to take effect on the last day of October next. 

I cannot close this communication without the pleasing 
reflection that I have never before had occasion to address 
you with regret. There has never risen between us a 
momentary variance. You have strengthened my hands 
with a fidelity and truth which have redeemed the pledge 
implied in calling me to be your rector. You have uniformly 
received my suggestions and counsel with deference and 
attention. You have bestowed upon me many marks of 
kindness and confidence. I part from you, gentlemen, with 
unfeigned reluctance. I look back upon my association 
with you with respect and love for you, and with gratitude 
to the Divine Master, who has granted to me in that asso- 
ciation so much of strength, of comfort, and of happiness. 

I am, gentlemen, your friend and rector, 

Horatio Southgate. 



185:8 — 1869 



m 



1858 — 1869. 



With the close of Bishop Southgate's rectorship the 
parish ceased for a time to take any active part in forming 
the history of the Church in this country. It existed, as 
most parishes exist, doing its own work and exerting con- 
siderable local influence, but making no apparent impres- 
sion on the Church at large. It was a free church, and, as 
such, still an experiment, the success of which had not been 
proved ; but, on the whole, its condition gave great encour- 
agement to believers in the movement, and its course was 
therefore watched with great interest. 

On the resignation of Bishop Southgate, the assistant, the 
Rev. Mr. Stickney, was asked to take charge of the work 
temporarily; and shortly the Rev. W. H. Odenheimer, 
D.D., of Philadelphia, was unanimously elected rector. After 
considering the matter, however, Dr. Odenheimer felt obliged 
to decline the election; and it was not until May 10, 1859, 
that the parish elected its next rector, the Rev. James A. 
Bolles, D.D., of Cleveland, Ohio. 

In many respects Dr. Bolles was an obvious candidate. 
A good Churchman, very popular with his people in the 
west, an exceedingly genial and hospitable man, he was also 
much interested in the free-church movement, and was will- 
ing to take a financial risk which seemed very great to those 
having the charge of parishes where the policy of pew- 
renting insured a certain income. 

While the Parish of the Advent made appropriations each 
year based upon the income of the preceding year, and the 



62 



members of its corporation felt a moral responsibility to see 
that the contracted payments were always made, there could 
be no guarantee that the members of the congregation would 
do their share, nor could they be compelled to contribute 
to the general fund. The principle of giving for its own 
sake had been inculcated ; and fairs, concerts, and other 
like forms of extortion, were never even considered as a 
means by which to make up any possible deficit. The 
offerings of the congregation were taken at each service, 
and formally presented upon the altar as an act of worship, 
praise and thanksgiving ; and then, and then only, were 
they devoted to the support of the work. Moreover, the act 
of first offering upon the altar those sums of money which 
members of the congregation were to give to the various 
charitable enterprises in the city was encouraged, both as a 
means of bringing a blessing upon the work for which they 
were set apart, and thus, as it were, doubling the value of 
the gift, and also as a constant recognition on the part of 
the giver of that Power whose goodness had made the gift 
possible. 

It was the recognition of the principle that the act of 
giving to Christ and his Church was a distinct act of wor- 
ship, and that it was the duty of each member of the con- 
gregation to place upon the altar from week to week a 
portion of those things with the use of which he had been 
intrusted, which gave to the members of the parish faith in 
their system, and to their new rector courage to run the risk 
(from the worldly point of view) of leaving his Cleveland 
home and accepting this call. He entered upon his new 
duties full of zeal and enterprise in mapping out the details 
of the work, and his enthusiasm served as a great incentive 
to those whom he had come to lead. 



63 



The parish was still occupying the chapel on Green 
Street, but question of building was under consideration. 
In 1858 a lot of land on Tremont Street, between Worcester 
and Concord Streets, had been offered as a gift, if the parish 
would build upon it; and later, in i860, the purchase of a 
lot on Allston Street was also under discussion. It seemed 
impolitic to abandon a fairly successful field, and move to 
the South End ; and, therefore, the offer of the Tremont 
Street lot was declined. The Allston Street lot would afford 
a church with only about seven hundred sittings, and it was 
therefore decided to be too small for the purpose. So for 
the present the plan of moving was abandoned. 

In 1859 the parish again had an opportunity of standing 
up for the faith, in opposition to that spirit which did not 
discriminate between the Church and those who had cut 
themselves off from its ministrations. 

A child, baptized in the Church, had been maintained for 
nearly six years under very distressing circumstances by 
members of the parish and from the alms chest. It was 
then placed in the Church Home for Orphan and Destitute 
Children, with the distinct understanding that its relig- 
ious instruction should "be in accordance with the forms 
and tenets of the Protestant Episcopal Church." But 
within two or three months the child was placed in a family 
well known to be of the Baptist faith, without notice to 
those who had left it in the Church Home. When this be- 
came known, the matter was thoroughly investigated, and 
every effort was made to have the child placed under differ- 
ent surroundings ; but it seems evident from the records that 
the trustees of the Church Home at that time did not con- 
sider it a matter of vital importance that the child should 
be brought up in the Church. A series of resolutions were 



6 4 



passed by the corporation and communicated to the trus- 
tees, reminding them of the duty and obligation imposed by 
the Church in its Prayer-book of " seeing that baptized 
children be taught what a solemn vow, promise, and confes- 
sion hath been made for them, and of taking care that each 
be brought to the bishop to be confirmed by him so soon as 
he can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Com- 
mandments, and is sufficiently instructed in the other parts 
of the church catechism set forth for that purpose." This 
duty, apparently, was not recognized by the trustees; for 
there is no evidence that any definite result ever came 
from these resolutions. Moreover, the whole tone of 
churchmanship in those days was not such as would re- 
quire or expect implicit obedience in regard to such details. 

The income of the parish at this time was not large, but 
it was large enough for its absolute needs. There were 
but few rich people in its congregation ; and the small con- 
tributions of the many were relied upon rather than the 
large contributions of the few. The amount (some $700) 
taken from the alms chest at the door of the church in each 
year showed that its silent appeal for the poor was not over- 
looked ; and in many ways there was evidence that the work 
was quietly going on, the foundation of much good to 
come. It was at that time the only Episcopal church in the 
city having a choir of men and boys ; and as it had, there- 
fore, its choice of the boys' voices of the city, its music was 
exceptionally good. Its choir procession before and after 
the service was a novelty, and soon the use of surplices for 
the men and boys added considerable dignity to the ser- 
vice. Still, the parish was not popular with the masses ; 
and its services did not receive that encouragement which 
they ought to have had. But, notwithstanding this, the 



65 



parish determined to remove, if it could procure a better 
site for its work. 

In the spring of 1862 it was learned that an estate on 
Bowdoin Street, formerly occupied by a Congregational 
society, could be procured for the sum of $30,000. Full 
power was at once given to a committee to negotiate for 
the purchase of the same " at such price and upon such 
terms as they may deem expedient." The financial prob- 
lem, however, was a serious one ; but it was solved through 
the generosity of Dr. George C. Shattuck. Two years 
before he had agreed to give a sum of money as an en- 
dowment when a certain fund was free to his use. He 
now offered to make a payment of the sum of $20,000 
in anticipation and in satisfaction of all his liabilities to 
the parish under his previous agreement, provided that it 
should be held in such a manner as " to secure a perma- 
nent trust fund for the support of the clergy of this parish 
of the full value of not less than $20,000 capital," permis- 
sion being given, however, to invest it under certain con- 
ditions in the parish property. Accordingly, the parish re- 
leased Dr. Shattuck from any liability under his original 
instrument of donation as modified by him ; and its treas- 
urer was instructed, upon the receipt of the $20,000, to pur- 
chase the mortgages on the Green Street property in the 
manner required, and to take an assignment of them in the 
name of the wardens and vestry of the parish in their cor- 
porate capacity as a trust fund for the support of the clergy, 
and to pay the interest on those mortgages as it accrued 
regularly for the purposes for which the trust was estab- 
lished. 

It was not, however, until Easter, 1863, that the "trus- 
tees of the building fund, under the indenture of February 



66 



i, 1847," were instructed " to purchase with the funds that 
are or may be in their hands the land and meeting-house 
now belonging to the Congregational society on Bowdoin 
Street as and for a permanent house of worship for the 
use of this parish." Soon it was reported that all the nec- 
essary money was in hand, and the trustees of the building 
fund contracted for the purchase of this property. 

The next question for consideration was what should be 
done with the building. Its interior resembled most Con- 
gregational meeting-houses of its time. Against the w r all, 
opposite the entrance, there was a high platform, on which 
there was a large reading-desk, with chairs and a sofa be- 
hind it ; and in front, on the floor, was a small table. It 
was necessary that all these should be removed, and the 
altar set up in its place, with a proper rail and choir seats. 
As the church was a free church, it was also desirable that 
the pew doors should be removed. Moreover, the treat- 
ment of the wall behind the altar was a matter of serious 
consideration ; and it was evident that, when the building 
was altered to meet any proposed plan, it could not be 
churchlike in appearance. The question, therefore, nat- 
urally came to some of the more zealous members of the 
parish whether it would not be better to rebuild entirely, 
or else to so radically alter the building that its present 
lines would be lost. The advice of Mr. Richard Upjohn, 
the architect, was taken ; and later he appeared before the 
corporation with plans, which were explained, and seemed 
to be so far acceptable that a committee was appointed to 
procure funds to carry them out. 

It was soon evident, however, that the parish was not 
united as to the expediency of expending the money neces- 
sary for the purpose, and consequently plans for altering the 



6 7 



building on a less ambitious scale were adopted, although 
only after much discussion. The points of discussion may 
seem small ; but they were based upon principle, and hence 
were important. One question was whether the reredos 
should be of stucco, representing wood or stone, and hence, 
in the contemptuous language of one of the corporation, a 
"sham," than which nothing could be worse in a place 
where the truth was to be taught. Another question was as 
to whether or not the altar should be raised well above 
the chancel floor, so as to give it the prominence which it 
was believed it should have. Stucco was cheaper than 
carving, and the altar, if lower, would cause less remark 
than if raised, as proposed ; and expediency gained the day. 
The alterations were finished so that the church was first 
occupied on Palm Sunday, March 20, 1864; and in the fol- 
lowing October the Green Street property was sold. 

In December, 1869, the rector realizing, apparently, that 
he had done for the parish all that he could, and that the 
time had come to hand the work over to some one else, sent 
in his resignation, which was accepted, with a vote thanking 
him for his faithful services lasting for so many years. Cer- 
tainly, much had been accomplished by him. The weekly 
celebration of the Holy Communion had been established. 
In the vesting of the choir and the use of the choral service 
the proper relations of the choir in the service of the Church 
had been recognized. The parish had purchased a better 
building for its work, though one by no means entirely suit- 
able for the purpose, for its services could not be held there 
with anything like the dignity which should attend them. 
While the general standard of churchmanship had advanced, 
however, there was still much feeling that form was of no 
value as a means of education or expression ; nor were 



68 



there in the city enough who sympathized with what is 
called the advanced school of churchmanship, even as it was 
known in those days, to come forward, and give freely to 
help such a work as the Parish of the Advent was attempt- 
ing. The time was not yet ripe for that fuller development 
of teaching and ritual to which we are now accustomed. 

Under all the circumstances, perhaps, it is well that no 
greater step had been taken. The parish had kept in a 
rather conservative position, showing but little growth, but 
holding its own, and gathering strength for its next step in 
advance. 



1869— 1894 



1869 — 1894. 

After the resignation of Dr. Bolles, arrangements were 
again made with the Rev. Mr. Stickney to serve as rector 
ad interim ; and Judge Redfield, Mr. Dana, and Mr. Tarbell 
were appointed a committee to take into consideration the 
vacancy in the rectorship, and to make nominations therefor. 

At a meeting held October 7, 1870, Mr. Dana represented 
that the committee had no nomination to make ; but he ex- 
plained the working of a brotherhood of clergymen exist- 
ing in England, and stated that the committee unanimously 
recommended the passage of the following vote : " That the 
committee to nominate a rector be authorized to make tem- 
porary arrangements with the Rev. Mr. Benson, of Oxford, 
to assist the rector ad interim in carrying on the work of 
the parish." The recommendation of this committee was 
adopted, and was the beginning of another controversy, 
which, while it did not directly or seriously affect the parish, 
caused it to be brought into critical notice. 

The brotherhood in question, now so well known as the 
Society of St. John the Evangelist, had existed for about 
three years in England. It was composed at that time of 
priests, both Englishmen and Americans, who were not in- 
clined to take parish work, but were associated more espe- 
cially for the purpose of holding missions and of preaching 
wherever they might be called from time to time. The 
members of this order, however, favored a more advanced 
ritual than was the custom in this country, and were believed 
by those not well informed in the matter to hold a faith 



72 



more nearly resembling that of the Roman Catholic than of 
the Anglican Church. Their very vow made them unpop- 
ular ; and, as their habit was peculiar, they were objects of 
much curiosity wherever they went. The fact that they 
were under the jurisdiction of the English Church also 
tended to make them objectionable to many of the Church- 
men of this city. 

Satisfactory arrangements were made with Father Benson ; 
and he, with two associates, arrived here in November, 
1870. They brought letters from the bishop of Oxford, the 
bishop of Winchester and the bishop of London, recom- 
mending them in terms of the highest praise, and entitling 
them to rank with the clergy of this country ; but, notwith- 
standing all this, the bishop of Massachusetts declined to 
see them. The result was a correspondence which extended 
through the fall and winter of 1870-71, in which, while 
the parish was not technically involved, its committee was 
put to much embarrassment. These clergymen had been 
invited by the parish, and the parish felt in a measure 
responsible for the manner in which they were received by 
the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese. Moreover, it felt 
the slight which the bishop put upon it in his treatment 
of its guests. Elsewhere in the country they were received 
with great cordiality, but not in Massachusetts. 

It was finally arranged, however, that the Rev. Charles 
C. Grafton and the Rev. Oliver S. Prescott, members of the 
society, who, as priests of the American Church, were canon- 
ically eligible, should take active charge of the services of 
the parish, while the English members should hold such 
meetings in the Sunday-school-room and elsewhere as might 
be held by any laymen, performing no priestly acts in this 
diocese so long as the bishop objected. 



73 



The immediate result to the parish of the arrival of these 
men was a largely increased interest in its work. The sys- 
tem which the members of the society adopted was such 
as they had found eminently satisfactory in their work 
in England, and in some respects its very novelty was an 
attraction. Their sermons were mostly extemporaneous, 
and their directness of delivery gave the preachers a great 
influence. Their effectiveness was recognized by all. More- 
over, their influence was largely increased by the zealous 
personal interest which they took in those to whom they 
had come to minister. 

At the Easter meeting, April 10, 187 1, the Rev. Mr. 
Stickney, for many years assistant to the rector, and later 
rector ad interim, resigned his connection with the parish. 
For nearly twenty years he had been a faithful and beloved 
minister to those in need, but his svstem of work did not 
readily coalesce with that of his associates. He was of the 
old school, and they of a new ; and a harmonious parting 
seemed preferable to a loss of influence on either side. 

It was not until November 14, 187 1, that the parish pro- 
ceeded to the election of a rector ; and at that meeting the 
Rev. James DeKoven, D.D., was unanimously chosen. Noth- 
ing need be said at this time either in eulogy of Dr. DeKoven 
or to justify the parish in its choice. He was an obvious 
man for the position ; but he felt that his duty was else- 
where, and he therefore declined the call. At the meeting 
at which Dr. DeKoven's declination was received the senior 
warden suggested the election of the Rev. Mr. Grafton as 
rector, and the Rev. Joseph Richey as assistant minister. 
This suggestion received careful consideration ; and at a 
subsequent meeting a committee recommended the election 
of these candidates, after carefully considering the relations 



74 



of all concerned A letter was read from the Rev. Mr. 
Grafton, denning his position in regard to the Society of St. 
John the Evangelist, and he was thereupon elected rector, 
the Rev. Mr. Richey being elected assistant rector by a 
unanimous vote. 

At the Easter meeting, held a month later, the wardens 
reported that they had notified the rector and assistant 
minister of their election; that the rector-elect had sig- 
nified his acceptance, but that Mr. Richey had been invited 
to the rectorship of Mt. Calvary Church, Baltimore, and 
felt that the call to Baltimore was a very urgent one, and 
should be accepted ; therefore he declined his election. 

Mr. Richey had been connected with the parish for some 
months, and he had especially endeared himself to the peo- 
ple. Moreover, as he was not a member of the order, his 
election seemed to many to tend to counteract its influence 
as such in the parish, and hence to be an important factor 
in the situation. To them as well as to those who had 
learned to appreciate his many virtues, his declination was 
a serious blow. 

In the autumn of 1874 the matter of building a church 
was again agitated ; and Messrs. Tarbell, Oliver, and Joy 
were appointed a committee to take the subject into con- 
sideration. They reported in favor of buying the site of 
the present church ; but it was not until the Easter meeting 
of 1875 that a vote was passed accepting the terms of the 
owner of the land, and the purchase was completed later. 

A building committee was immediately appointed, and 
John H. Sturgis, Esq., was unanimously chosen architect 
for the church. In the following February his plans were 
accepted; and in March, 1876, it was voted that the west 
bay of the church, according to Mr. Sturgis's plan, be com- 



75 



menced at once, and the work prosecuted as fast as funds 
are furnished for the purpose. The building of the church, 
according to this plan, however, involved getting the consent 
of the adjoining property holders on the street, as it placed 
the tower outside of the established building line. This 
consent could not be obtained, however ; and, therefore, 
the commencement of the building was again postponed. 

In December, 1876, a proposition was made by Father 
Benson regarding the purchase of the building on Bow- 
doin Street ; but the proposition was declined for the time. 
Negotiations, however, were still pending ; and in March, 
1877, the °ff er of Father Benson was accepted, on condi- 
tion, however, that " as long as the parish may have for its 
rector a member of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, 
the church on Brimmer Street shall be made the headquar- 
ters of the work of the society in Boston, and the church on 
Bowdoin Street shall be carried on as a mission chapel, sub- 
ject to the control of the said rector, but independent of 
said parish.'' It was also voted, at the same time, that 
" as soon as it is reasonably apparent that the sale of the 
church on Bowdoin Street will be completed the committee 
are authorized to contract for the piling for the proposed 
church on Brimmer Street, and, when the sale of the church 
on Bowdoin Street shall be completed, continue the work 
of building, provided that the committee shall at no time 
contract liabilities in excess of the means of payment ac- 
tually in hand, unless by special vote of the Corporation." 
The price fixed for the property on Bowdoin Street was 
about $27,000, which was raised by a contribution of ^"2,000 
sent by Father Benson from England, and the remainder by 
Father Grafton and several members of the parish. 

At the Easter meeting, 1878, sufficient money was in hand 



76 



to warrant beginning the work ; and the committee was au- 
thorized to drive all the piles necessary for the church. The 
ground was broken for the new undertaking March 21, 1878. 

When the piling was driven, the building of the chancel 
was begun immediately, its west end being bricked in so 
that services might be held therein. The chapel so formed 
was furnished with a temporary altar and organ and with 
chairs; and on Easter morning, 1879, tne nrst service, an 
early celebration, was held, Dr. F. E. Oliver, who had 
done so much for the music of the parish in its early days, 
playing the organ for the " Gloria in Excelsis," the first 
hymn sung there. 

At the Easter meeting, 1880, the Rev. Arthur C. A. Hall 
was elected to the office of assistant rector, — an office not 
canonically recognized, but provided for by the original con- 
stitution of the parish. 

From this time on, for two years and more, the main ques- 
tion was how to finish the church building without going 
into debt. The question of mortgaging the property came 
up frequently, but it was not considered right to rely on a 
mortgage debt to furnish funds, when the absolute necessity 
for building was not apparent ; and such a proposition was, 
during this period, always voted down. Finally, enough 
money appeared to be in hand to justify making the pre- 
liminary contracts ; and the building of the nave was begun 
in the spring of 188 1. The furnishing of the church was 
also to be a matter of considerable expense ; but through 
the kindness of friends, and gifts from many sources, many 
of them unexpected, funds were finally in hand to furnish 
the church fully and build an organ. 

But the parish yet had to receive what seemed at the 
time its most severe blow. The several clergymen belong- 



77 



ing to the Society of St. John the Evangelist, who had as- 
sisted the rector in carrying on the church work, were very 
intimately associated with the parishioners, and seemed to 
have made themselves almost necessary to all that the par- 
ish had undertaken. It was, therefore, with great astonish- 
ment that the parish received word, early in the fall of 
1882, that the rector had severed his connection with the 
Society of St. John the Evangelist. This of necessity 
meant a thorough reorganization of the details of the parish 
work under new guidance. 

The corporation, after looking into the matter, and real- 
izing that the church in Bowdoin Street was, by the terms 
of its sale, set aside for the ultimate use of the Society of 
St. John the Evangelist, and was being occupied by the 
parish, in a sense, on sufferance, promptly recognized the 
rector's right to choose his own assistants, and at the same 
time acknowledged the position of the society by agreeing to 
finish the new church as early as practicable, and then re- 
sign the Bowdoin Street church to the uses of the society 
under the immediate charge of the assistant rector, with the 
understanding that he should resign his office in the parish, 
and conduct the work entirely independent of the parish. 
This arrangement was agreed to on all sides as being, on 
the whole, the happiest solution of the difficulties in which 
the parish found itself ; and on the Thursday before Palm 
Sunday, 1883, the parish held its first service in the com- 
pleted church, — completed at least so far as essentials were 
concerned. On the following Saturday the first services 
were conducted in the Church of St. John the Evangelist on 
Bowdoin Street. While the parish seemed to have received 
a serious blow, in fact there had arisen from the one parish 
two congregations, each independent of the other, and each 



78 



by somewhat differing methods striving to do its duty in 
that position in which it had been placed by a Higher 
Power. 

It goes without saying that such a change in relations 
could not have been brought about without misunderstand- 
ings and much feeling, and this feeling seemed for a time 
to be almost incurable ; but in a few years scarcely any 
trace of it remained. To-day it is a thing of the past, 
neither thought of nor regarded by those who were con- 
cerned in it. 

This urgent necessity for the immediate use of the church 
under such unforeseen circumstances embarrassed the build- 
ing committee seriously, and the placing of a mortgage 
seemed to be the only possible solution of the difficulty. 
The present scheme of construction had to be enlarged 
somewhat to provide accommodations for all the parish 
work. Not only did the church building require to be fin- 
ished, but it was necessary to have a proper place for the 
Sunday-school, the choir, and the various guilds. Thus the 
parish had incurred necessary expenses which were not con- 
templated when the contracts for the church building were 
made. However, with the generous gifts of certain wor- 
shippers and with the help of a comparatively small mort- 
gage, the parish was so placed that its engagements with 
the contractors were met; and on December i, 1883, the 
construction account of the building was closed, and before 
the beginning of the new year the final report was received 
from the building committee, and it and the furnishing 
committee were discharged. 

As the personnel of the congregation had changed mate- 
rially, a misunderstanding arose as to the position of the 
corporation, probably growing somewhat out of the changed 



79 



condition of affairs and the divided sympathies of its mem- 
bers. Why was it, it was asked, that these few men were 
allowed to elect the wardens and vestry, to elect the rector, 
to appropriate money, and do other things, such as in 
many churches are done by the whole body of worshippers ? 
This spirit of inquiry became more and more eager ; and 
finally, early in 1886, a number of the communicants asked 
for the right to name candidates to fill vacancies in the 
corporation. There could be only one answer to their 
request, and that a denial. 

The corporation had existed for forty years and more as a 
board of trustees organized for the purpose of receiving 
money and holding property to carry on the worship of the 
Holy Catholic Church according to the doctrine and disci- 
pline of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this country. 
For this purpose these trustees had received money, and had 
used it to the best of their ability, with the understanding 
that it should never be diverted in any way, and, as trustees, 
their only safeguard was to maintain such a rule with regard 
to perpetuating their body that at no time could their trust 
ever be violated or endangered. It was not with them a 
question whether the system which was adopted at the or- 
ganization of the parish was the correct system : it was 
enough that it had been adopted, and that as so constituted 
the administration of a great trust had come into their hands. 
Certainly, in the early years of the parish, its uncompro- 
mising course had been due to the steadfast purpose of the 
members of this body, whose opinions could not be neu- 
tralized by the enforced addition to their number of per- 
sons who might not work in sympathy with the principles 
which they were pledged to perpetuate. It was no good 
reason for a change that for the present the horizon seemed 



8o 



clear ; for perhaps the battle might have to be fought over 
again in the distant future, though on a different ground. 
Hence the integrity of the position must be maintained. 

In April, 1888, the rector placed his resignation in the 
hands of the corporation, asking that it be accepted as 
soon as his successor should be ready to enter upon his 
duties. His rectorship had been the longest in the history 
of the parish, sixteen years ; and the corporation were glad 
to acknowledge, in parting with him, his valuable aid in 
building the new church, his liberal contributions therefor, 
and the great good which had been the result of his rector- 
ship. 

A great change had been wrought from the quiet ser- 
vice in the Congregational meeting-house in Bowdoin 
Street, which the Society of St. John the Evangelist found 
when its members first came to Boston in 1870, to the 
ornate service in the beautiful church on Brimmer Street. 
But this was merely the outward and visible sign of the 
inward change that had gone on, and had made all this pos- 
sible. The form was a small matter. The substance was 
the thing of real importance. The Catholic teaching had 
been implanted, and the sacraments of the Church were 
understood as never before ; and their influence had spread, 
not only through this congregation, but also through that 
other body which had succeeded to the tenure of the Bow- 
doin Street property. The planting of the seed from which 
two large congregations had grown, where only one had 
existed, — certainly, this was something to be thankful for. 
Moreover, from that second congregation had sprung a mis- 
sion, the first of its kind in this part of the country, 
which was to carry the teachings of the Church to the col- 
ored people of the city in a manner especially acceptable to 



8i 



them, and was also to minister in some degree to their 
temporal advancement as well. This was also made pos- 
sible only by the organization of the work during Father 
Grafton's connection with the parish. 

If it seemed advisable to go into detail, much might be 
said of the help which the parish has had from various 
priests who have assisted from time to time in its work, and 
of the many missions held, both by its own clergy and by 
those who, weary with their routine in England, sought rest 
in doing good in America. But this is of too recent date to 
need special mention now. These men have all left their 
mark, and the parish will always be the better for their min- 
istrations. 

No final step was taken toward the election of a new in- 
cumbent until October, 1888, when the present rector was 
unanimously elected to his office ; and on Advent Sunday, 
December 1, 1888, he entered upon his duties. 

Much had to be done. The troubles of the past few years 
had necessarily left their mark upon the parish. The church 
building, while in condition to use, was yet unfinished ; and 
in the interim between the former rector's resignation and 
the arrival of the new rector the congregation had become 
somewhat disorganized. 

Nothing more need be said about the work of the past 
six years than that the congregation is thoroughly united, 
and has increased in numbers ; that the parish church is en- 
tirely finished, save as it may be beautified from time to 
time by additional bits of carving and other ornamentation ; 
that it is becoming the home of many beautiful things set 
apart to the glory of God and in memory of those who, 
having finished this life, do now rest from their labors ; that 
the parish has a rectory convenient and easily accessible to 



82 



the church ; that its debts are paid, its mortgage discharged ; 
and that, by its example, it is aiding and encouraging those 
who, in a less advantageous position, are striving to maintain 
Catholic truth. Its inner life can no more be appreciated by 
the ordinary observer than that of any other parish, but its 
influence for good in this community cannot be questioned. 
Not only has it introduced a more reverent worship in our 
churches, but it stands to-day a bulwark for the faith once 
delivered to the saints against the insidious encroachments 
of heresy and unbelief. Indeed, the time may be near at 
hand when every faithful Churchman in this diocese, what- 
ever his views as to methods of worship, will fervently thank 
God for the foundations laid by that little band of devout 
men a half-century ago. 



RECTORS OF THE PARISH OF THE ADVENT. 



Rev. William Croswell, D.D. Elected 1844; died 1851. 
Rt. Rev. Horatio Southgate, D.D. Elected 1852; resigned 1858. 
Rev. James A. Bolles, D.D. Elected 1859; resigned 1870. 
Rev. Charles C. Grafton. Elected 1872 ; resigned 1888. 
Rev. William B. Frisby. Elected 1888. 



OFFICERS OF THE PARISH IN PAST YEARS. 



SENIOR WARDENS. 

Elected. 

Richard H. Dana, Sen 1844 

Theron Metcalf 1848 

William Foster Otis 1855 

John P. Tarbell 1857 

George C. Shattuck 1858 

F. E. Oliver 1891 

Robert Codman 1893 

JUNIOR WARDENS. 

Elected. 

Charles P. Gordon 1844 

George C. Shattuck . 1855 

William Edward Coale 1858 

Edward N. Perkins . . 1865 

Horatio Bigelow 1883 

F. E. Oliver 1885 

Robert Codman 1891 

Francis W. Hunnewell 1893 

TREASURERS. 

Elected. 

Charles R. Bond 1844 

William Edward Coale 1846 

Richard H. Salter 1849 

John P. Tarbell 1852 

Frederick H. Stimpson 1857 

Charles K. Cobb 1872 

Charles H. Joy 1872 

Thomas Nelson 1882 

George P. Gardner 1891 



85 



CLERKS. 

Elected. 

Charles R. Bond . 1844 

. Andrew Oliver 1846 

Henry M. Parker 1850 

N. Austin Parks 1861 

F. E. Oliver 1863 

William H. C. Copeland 1864 



PAST MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATION. 



* Joseph H. Adams, 1844 

* Isaac C. Bates, 1844 

* Charles R. Bond, 1844 

* Henry Burroughs, 1844 

* William E. Coale, 1844 

* John Codman, 1844 

* R. McCleary Copeland, 1844 

* William J. Dale, 1844 

* Richard H. Dana, Sen., 1844 

* Richard H. Dana, Jr., 1844 

*T. M. J. Dehon, 1844 

* Robert Farley, . 1844 

* Charles P. Gordon, 1844 

* Theodore Metcalf, 1844 

*Theron Metcalf, 1844 

* Thomas D. Morris, 1844 

* William Foster Otis, 1844 

* Richard H. Salter, 1844 

* George C. Shattuck, 1844 

* Alexander Wood, 1844 



Andrew Oliver, 1848 

* Henry M. Parker, 1848 

* John P. Tarbell, 1848 

*F. E. Oliver, 1849 

*N. Austin Parks, 1849 

* Joseph Burnett, 1850 

* S. Benton Thompson, 1851 

* Peter Wainwright, 1852 



87 



* Daniel Chamberlin, 1853 

* Henry T. Parker, 1853 

Samuel Eliot, 1854 

George W. Pearson, 1854 

* Horatio Bigelow, 1856 

C austen Browne, 1856 

* Frederick H. Stimpson, 1856 

* Charles F. Shimmin, 1857 

* William E. Townsend, 1858 

* Frederick S. Ainsworth, i860 

William S. Eaton, i860 

Edward N. Perkins, 1861 

* Isaac F. Redfield, 1861 

*Theron J. Dale, 1867 

* Charles H. Joy, . . . . 1868 

* George Fisher, 1870 

Charles P. Gardiner, 1870 

*Charles K. Cobb, 1871 

* Henry C. Hutchins, 1874 

*John H. Sturgis, 1874 

*Col. T. T. S. Laidley, 1878 

Joshua M. Sears, 1888 

Samuel Ritchie, 1889 



OFFICERS OF THE PARISH. 

1894. 



RECTOR. 

REV. WILLIAM B. FRISBY. 

CURATES. 

Rev. George F. Daniels. Rev. Arthur Chase. 

WARDENS. 

Robert Codman. Francis W. Hunnewell. 

VESTRYMEN. 

* John P. Tarbell. William H. C. Copeland. 

Thomas Nelson. Stephen C. Drew. 

George P. Gardner. George O. G. Coale. 

Francis V. Parker. Charles H. Drew. 

Harold B. Wardwell. 

TREASURER. 

George P. Gardner. 

CLERK. 

William H. C. Copeland. 



* Died May 7, 1894. 



MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATION. 

Dec. 1, 1894. 



Elected. 



William H. C. Copeland, 1868 

Robert Codman, 1873 

Erving Winslow, 1874 

George O. G. Coale, 1878 

Thomas Nelson, 1878 

Francis V. Parker, 1881 

Francis W. Hunnewell, 1888 

Joseph S. Bigelow, 1889 

Stephen C. Drew, 1889 

Francis I. Amory, 1890 

George P. Gardner, 1890 

William K. Richardson, 1890 

Joseph G. Minot, 1892 



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